Process of finishing fabric



Patented Jan. 9, 1940 UNITED srarss 2,186,121 PROCESS OF FINISHING FABRIC Herbert Platt, Cumberland, Md,

assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.

4 "Claims.

This invention relates to fabrics containin yarns formed from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers and moreparticularly to a method of finishing such fabrics to improve their hand.

An object of the invention is the economic and expeditious production of fabrics containing yarns formed from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers. Another object of the invention is a method of finishing soft pieces of fabric containing both animal fibers and organic derivative ofcellulose fibers to produce fabrics having a more resilient and crispy hand. Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description.

It is known that fabrics are formed from yarns at least some of which contain a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers. The yarns containing the mixture of fibers may be made by any suitable process. Depending somewhat upon the process of manufacture and the mixture of fibers they contain these yarns may be woven, knitted, or netted into fabrics which in appearance resemble mens tropical worsteds, womens novelty worsted, woolen suitings, woolen overcoatings, camel hair overcoatings, etc. Although the fabrics may have the desired appearance they sometimes lack the desired resiliency of hand and instead they have a soft or mushyhand or a rag-like hand. Also such fabrics may be fulled for too long a time effecting a rag-like hand. I have found that the desired hand may be produced in such fabrics, in accordance with this invention, by wetting them out open width and drying them on a tenter. A still further improvement in hand may be obtained by performing all the wet finishing operations such as scouring, fulling, dyeing, rinsing, etc., without drying until the fabric goes on the tenter. Fabrics, containing yarns formed from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers, that are treated in accordance with this invention have a resilient and live hand similar to fabrics made wholly from animal fibers and they have the further advantage of draping better, being more wrinkle-proof yet holding a set crease or pleat longer and having more desirable absorption properties.

In accordance with nw invention then, I form fabrics containing at least some yarns made from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers and finished in such a manner that they are placed on the tenter while wet, say containing above 50% moisture and preferably above 120% moisture. It is also preferable to Application September 17, 1937, Serial No. 164,309

perform all the'wet finishing operations up the tentering or final pressing operation without permitting the fabric to-become dry between any of the said operations. However, if the fabric has become dry, it is within the scope of my invention to rewet the fabric and place it on the tenter while wet. I have found that the amount of water, within limits, left in the fabric when it enfrom yarns formed from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers. However, the invention is also applicable to the treatment of fabrics whether woven, ,knitted, netted or knotted from such yarns or such yarns interfabricated with other types of yarns. The yarns may be formed from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fibers and animal fibers by any suitable method. For instance, the yarns may be formed from a mixture of fibers by the cotton method, worsted method, the woolen method or the waste silk method of forming yarns from staple length fibers.

The organic derivative of cellulose fibers that are mixed with the animal fibers to form the yarns may be made from any suitable organic derivative of cellulose and by any suitable process employed in forming staple length fibers from artificial materials. Any suitable organic derivative of cellulose may be used in forming fibers such as the organic esters of cellulose and cellulose ethers. Examples of organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate; while examples of cellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose.

The staple fibers may be formed by extruding a solution of the organic ester of cellulose through suitable orifices into a solidifying medium such as atmosphere employed in the dry method of forming artificial silk or into a precipitating medium as employed in the wet method of forming silk. By either of these methods continuous filaments of the organic derivatives of cellulose are formed, which continuous filaments may be grouped together into rope form or grouped togather in the form of a band and then cut or torn into suitable staple lengths. any suitable length of fiber may be employed depending upon the process used in forming the same into yarn. For instance, fibers of one inch to 12 inches or more may be employed. When forming the yarns by the woolen method of forming yarns from a mixture of organic derivative of cellulose fiber and wool fiber, it is preferable to use fibers having a length of from. 1 to 4 inches.

The animal fibers employed in forming the yarns described above may be any suitable animal fiber such as wool of any grade or locality camel hair, mohair, llama, rabbit, etc. For making fabrics that are intended to compete with tropical worsteds employed in mens suitings, it is preferable to form the yarns from a mixture of about parts cellulose acetate fiber and 30 parts of wool fiber of a grade about that of Ges U. S. Standard. Although a mixture of fibers consisting of about '70 parts organic derivative of cellulose fibers and 30 parts wool fibers is preferable, this invention is applicable to yarns containing from 50 to parts organic derivative of cellulose fiber mixed with 5 to 50 parts of animal fiber.

The type of cloth formed will depend naturally upon the method used in forming the yarns, that is the degree of twist placed in the yarns, the type of animal hair employed, the deniers of artificial fibers employed and the construction of the fabric..

Regardless of the type of fabric treated there is produced in the same, by treatment in accordance with this invention, a more resilient and lofty hand. The invention, however, is particularly applicable to woven fabrics of fairly tight construction designed for use in mens summer suits and womens novelty suits.

As an aid in describing the invention without being limited thereby, the following example is Elven:

Example Yarns are formed by the woolen method of forming yarns from a mixture of about '70 parts cellulose fiber and about 30 parts wool having approximately the same cross-sectional area. Yarns are formed having a twist of from 5 to 15 turns per inch and of about 20 to 24 count. These yarns are woven into a fabric of 1x1 Weave having about 62 to 6'7 picks and ends per inch. The fabric is then placed in a kicker fulllng machine with suitable soap and water. After fulllng, the fabric is rinsed in warm water then scoured in a warm water soap solution and placed in a dye bath of about 80 C. The fabric is-removed from the dye bath, rinsed, centrlfugally extracted and wound into a roll while still containing about or more moisture. The roll is placed upon the tentcr machine and stretched out and dried. The resulting fabric has a resilient and lofty hand and in all respects is similar to a fabric formed by the worsted method of forming yarns of all animal fibers.

The fabric after weaving may be given any of the customary finishes by any suitable devices. For instance, the fabric may be fulled with kicker, rotary or lap fulling machines, etc., while the fabric may be dyed in the roll by the Franklin process, on the winch or jig, whereas the scouring and rinsing operations may be performed on the winch, in vats, etc. For the prevention of permanent creases in the finished article, it is preferable however to use those methods of finishing the fabric in which the fabric is maintained in an open condition as distinguished from rope or basket form of treatments. It is also preferable but not necessary that the fabric is allowed to cool slowly from the temperature of the heated baths, the temperature of the cold baths or to room temperature. Slow cooling of the fabric may be performed by rolling the fabric into a roll upon recovery from a heated bath.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a process for the production of a fabric, comprising organic derivative of cellulose fiber and animal fiber, having a good hand, the steps of subjecting a fabric to wet-finishing operations and finally subjecting the fabric containing 120 to 200% based on the weight of the fabric, of moisture to tenter-drying.

2. In a process for the production of a fabric, comprising cellulose acetate fiber and animal fiber, having a good hand, the steps of subjecting a fabric to wet-finishing operations and finally subjecting the fabric containing 120 to 200%, based-on the weight of the fabric, of moisture to tenter-drying.

3. In a process for the production of a fabric, comprising organic derivative of cellulose fiber and animal fiber, having a good band, the steps of subjecting a fabric to wet-finishing operations,

during and between which operations the moisture content of the fabric is always maintained at 120 to 200%, based on the weight of the fabric, and finally subjecting the fabric containing 120 to 200% of moisture to tenter-drying.

4. In a process for the production of a fabric comprising cellulose acetate fiber and animal fiber, having a good hand, the steps of subjecting a fabric to wet-finishing operations, during and between which operations the moisture content of the fabric is always maintained at 120 to 200%, based on the weight of the fabric, and finally subjecting the fabric containing 120 to 200% of moisture to tenter-drylng.

HERBERT PLATT. 

